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phosphorus chemistry is in many ways closely linked to chemical research in Germany. The element was discovered in Hamburg in 1669 by Hennig Brand, a German pharmacist and alchemist who actually wanted to find the philosopher's stone. The phosphorus chemiluminescence that occurred during the discovery, after being demystified as the "Mitscherlich test" (by Eilhard Mitscherlich, 1794-1863), found its way into forensic chemistry and thus established an important branch of the systematic investigation of criminal acts.

Phosphorus is also known for its variety of allotropes, of which white, red, black and violet phosphorus have long been known. White phosphorus (P ₄ ) is the modification that represents the product of large-scale production. The high reactivity and molecular structure of P ₄ are highly valued in research; phosphorus-rich molecular compounds can be constructed through functionalization. There are many relationships between phosphorus and its heavy homologues: arsenic, antimony and bismuth, which are becoming increasingly important in the field of materials science and catalysis. The working group is therefore also focusing its interest on the chemistry of the heavy elements of group 15.

Phosphorus compounds are essential for all biological organisms because they are components of elementary biomolecules and are responsible for basic cellular mechanisms in the form of nucleotides, secondary messengers and in phosphorylations as post-translational modifications of proteins. Phosphorus compounds are also important building blocks in molecular probes in chemical biology and in modern pharmaceuticals and are therefore central to medicinal chemistry. One example is the hepatitis C drug sofosbovir, which is based on the development of a nucleotide analogue and thus a phosphorus(V) compound.

Phosphorus compounds are indispensable in inorganic and organic synthetic chemistry, whether in the Wittig reaction, the Staudinger reaction, the Arbusov and Michaelis-Arbusov reaction, the Mitsunobu reaction or the Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons reaction, as organocatalysts or as multifunctional phosphine ligands, also in the form of chiral ligands in metal complex catalysts. Phosphorus is also an important element in the field of solid-state chemistry and in materials science , e.g. in light-emitting diodes, in steels, but also for matches. Phosphorene (a relative of graphene) is a new, interesting two-dimensional material that has gained increasing interest in recent years, including among German phosphorus chemists. And last but not least, phosphorus compounds play an important role in the chemical industry, e.g. as drying agents (e.g. phosphorus(V) oxide), in flame retardants, additives, plasticizers and crop protection products or as phosphate in fertilizers.

For this reason, the GDCh Board approved the establishment of a Working Group Phosphorus Chemistry under the umbrella of the GDCh in December 2018. Details are contained in the bylaws.

Shortlink to this page: www.gdch.de/phosphorchemie